OMG, Sorry, this was supposed to be done quicker, but I am totally Sherlocked and trolling Tumblr (damn it, it's too distracting). I hope you can forgive me.
Love U all.

"Come inside and be afraid
See what's going on inside my mind...

Please let me out!

Branded like an animal
I can still feel them burning my mind...

Come inside now I implore
Do you think you can restore
Crucial pieces missing from my brain...

I've lost what it was within me

Now I try again to find
The thing that was my mind

Behold the other side
Who said I've lost my mind?"

(Perfect Insanity , Disturbed)

Chapter 12

The room was dim lit by the light of the sun. The shadows were too dark, a stark contrast to the golden light.

Nothing had changed, not in this room. The table was untouched, the chair well-placed in front of the desk. The curtains were open. At least it wasn't too dark in the room.

Erik's gaze wandered over the red carpet to the big bed; Charles was quiet, fast asleep, his head turned towards the window, his dark curls hiding his pale face. His pale and slender hands were placed on the blanket. His right hand was still bandaged.

Erik didn't dare to breathe, he was afraid it would wake the fragile figure.

Emma walked to the bed, clearly not caring if she was too loud or not; there was no pity or sympathy on her face, and Erik wasn't even sure if there was anything to be seen in her cold eyes. Curiosity was the only thing he could identify deep hidden behind the coldness.

"He is a mess." The blonde telepath leaned down to take a closer look. Her platinum blonde hair brushed over Charles' cheek, but the younger man didn't stir. Erik was close to strangle her but he stayed calm, only his fingers twitched slightly.

Raven took notice, Emma didn't.

"We should start now." Emma leaned back up, her eyes on Charles' face, her head slightly tilted. "His mind is not as weak as you all might think. We have some time, he is sedated so his mind will be sluggish and sleepy, and that in turn allows us more time to take a look around."

Erik nodded, but he noticed that Emma's eyes were still fixed on Charles, not on him, so he cleared his throat. "Alright."

"Come here." Emma waved, a sign for Erik to walk up to her. Erik straightened his shoulders, his head raised as he walked up to Emma. "Better we sit down." Emma gestured towards the bed. Erik didn't argue.

Raven eyed them, her eyes narrowed and her expression wary; the blue mutant sat on a chair next to the wall,her arms wrapped around her legs which were placed on the chair in front of her body, her yellow eyes not leaving Emma.

Emma had a cold smile on her lips. Erik could see the blue hue of her lipstick. He never had noticed it before. "What do I have to do?" Erik asked, his eyes on Charles' pale face. Charles seemed to disappear under the thick blanket, only his head and hands were to be seen.

"What exactly do you mean?" Emma asked in return, her cold eyes fixing Erik with an intense stare.

"Well, just that." Erik snapped back.

Emma turned up her nose, her head slightly raised as if she was waiting for more words of explanation, but Erik wasn't going to explain anything. She sighed, clearly annoyed. "Well, I will take you with me. It will feel like a pull, don't resist, it makes it more difficult for me. I have no idea how his mind will look like, and I don't know what we are searching for. That is up to you, since I assume you know what caused..." She trailed off, pointing with a nod towards Charles. "His state."

"So, we have to search for the cause of his state?" Erik asked, his brow furrowed.

"Yes?" Emma replied, her voice mimicking Erik's questioning tone. She really was annoyed, but this was Emma Frost, she was easily annoyed.

Erik gave her an angry glance, his jaw clenched, but he held himself back. This was for Charles, he had to keep calm if he wanted this to work. Oh, how he hated Emma, this cold-hearted bitch, but he would stay calm..

Emma's mouth twitched, almost as if to smile, but her face remained bored. She could hear his thoughts now, now that he wasn't wearing the helmet.

Erik smirked and Emma raised an eyebrow in return. "Shall we?" She asked, bored. She didn't seem to be nervouse at all. She was hiding her emotions pretty well, but Erik could see behind the facade; he could see the thin lines next to her mouth, he could see her stiff posture and her folded hands. She was nervouse, but she covered it with arrogance. Smart woman.

Erik gave her a nod and closed his eyes. He wasn't sure why he closed his eyes, it wouldn't help much since everything that would happen would happen behind his eyes, but somehow it made him feel safe. Safer.

There was no warning as he was pulled forward, and he took in a gulp of air as he was pulled into darkness. Everything swirled around, a blurr of grayish blue, swirling and swirling, and he was in the center of it. It was as if he was trapped in the middle of a whirlwind, a whirlwind of emotions and thoughts, colors and smells. They grabbed him, yanking at his clothes, ruffling his hair, the wind, the thoughts, yanking him around and swirling him until he felt sick.

It almost hurt, it was too much, a pressure behind his eyes, and he was pulled down, down and down until it stopped, suddenly, as sudden as he had been pulled inside the chaos of thoughts.

Erik blinked, trying to become used to the silence and the darkness. He shivered. Somehow it was really cold here.

"I am here, Lehnsherr." Erik swirled around; Emma Frost stood behind him, her body almost glowing too white in the darkness.

"Where exactly are we?" Erik asked slowly. He felt a bit dizzy. The metal-bender's gaze wandered down to his hands; this were his hands. He was still inside his body, well, or at least it looked like his body, since this was his mind, or...was it? It was a bit confusing.

"Inside his mind, of course." Emma snarled, her arms crossed in front of her large breast. "You could say this is the anteroom."

"Anteroom?" Erik mumbled, more to himself than to Emma, feeling a bit stupid because he was always repeating her words. He took a step forward and something crunched under his shoes. Erik looked down, and his eyebrows raised. Splinter. There were splinter everywhere on the ground, large and small ones, all in different colors, looking like glass or diamond.

Erik bend down and took one of them in his hand. It was a large one, one that was as large as a small hand mirror. The glass was smooth in his hand, the edges not sharp enough to cut his skin. "What's this?" He asked, his eyes not leaving the shard. He could see a sky, a blue sky with small white clouds. There was a part of a meadow, too. And the sun, he could see golden sunrays.

This shard seemed to have something utterly warm and comfortable. Erik could almost feel the sunrays, could almost smell the fresh grass...It was amazing!

"Those are shards of his mental shield." The White Queen answered, her eyes on Erik, who was mesmerized by the shard in his hand. "His mental shield? But, it looks like a scrap of a memory.." He could hear the crunching of glass as Emma walked up to him.

"Technically, it is. This-" She opened her arms. "- this was the place where his dreams used to be. His dreams, which were his mental shield, which kept everyone out of his head but not in a violent way. His dreams were his way to keep himself save and sane. As you see, they are all completely shattered.."

Something inside Erik turned upside down, and his heart felt surprisingly heavy. "Completly shattered?" He echoed, feeling faint. "What does that mean?"

Emma sighed, her arms back in front of her breasts. "Just what I've said. They are shattered, completly, and it will take him years to build them up again. I don't think he will ever manage it, even if he is who he is, the strongest telepath on this earth. Whatever has happened-" Her eyes were piercing through Erik's. "It has caused a lot of damage."

Erik gulped; why was he so surprised, why so shocked? He had known that it was serious, he had known that there was damage, but he hadn't expected...this...

"Are you able to rebuild them?" He asked, out of the blue. "Could you do that?" He knew he was sounding desperate. He did not care.

Why was Charles without his dreams? Without his happiness? Without his defense against the thoughts of others?

Emma took a deep breath, and for one moment Erik was sure he could see sympathy in her cold eyes. "No." She said, surprisingly soft. "I am not as strong as he is. I have my own mental shield, my diamond form, and it is utterly different from his. I wouldn't be able to mend the pieces because I don't know how. He is the only one who is, or should be, able to do this - at least in his own mind. I fear no one else will be able to do it, not if even he can't do it."

Erik pressed his lips together but nodded. He just hoped that Charles would manage to rebuild his shields, his dreams.. Erik had a bitter taste in his mouth but he swallowed it down. Everything would be alright.

"Follow me." Emma began to walk, the glass crunching under her high heels. Erik placed the shard back on the ground, then he followed Emma through the darkness.

Erik had no clue how long they walked through the never ending darkness. It was quiet , too quiet, and it was cold. He shivered, his eyes roaming over the broken shards and pieces of Charles' mental shield.

It took him by surprise as the door appeared in front of them; it was a large wooden door made of cherry wood. The doorhandle was made of silver but otherwise there was nothing special about the door. In fact the door almost looked like every other door in the mansion.

Emma said nothing as she laid her hand on the silver. For one moment she stood there, her eyes on the doorhandle, her shoulders stiff and her eyes narrowed in concentration, then she let go of the doorhandle and the door opened with a small click.

"Your turn now." Frost said as she pointed towards the door.

"What am I supposed to do?" And won't you help me in there? The metal-bender asked.

"I'll come with you but I won't be able to touch anything." The blonde telepath replied. "He would notice my touch immediately because he isn't used to the presence of my mind but-"

"But my mind he knows." Erik finished the sentence, nodding. That made sense; Charles mind would attack Emma as soon as he had noticed her because she was his enemy, had been his enemy. However, he wouldn't attack Erik because Erik was his friend, his love, someone he knew.

Erik entered the room behind the door. He wasn't sure what he had expected to see, but surely it hadn't been this.

The room was large, larger than any room that Erik knew. In fact it looked like a whole libary, stuffed with bookshelves and tables. The ceiling was high, so high that Erik could barely see it. No room in the real world looked like this, but, hey, this was Charles mind, everything was possible.

There was a bed, a large bed in the left corner of the room next to the incredible large window, which was well made and hardly used. All the windows were large and looked like the windows that Erik knew were to be found in churches. The sunlight lit the room in a golden light.

This room had something utterly warm and welcoming.

The floor was made of dark wood and the walls were made of stone. Like a castle, Erik thought as he walked along the bookshelves; his fingers itched to grab one of the books but he wasn't sure if that was a good idea.

Erik noticed the abundantly ornamented fireplace made of silver and dark cherry wood, but there was no fire inside.

The room looked like a hall, like a mixture of a libary and a bedroom, giving Erik the feeling of being home, but at the same time he felt as if he didn't belong here.

He could hear voices, just mumbling and muttering, soft whispers which floated through the room like an echo. Erik felt watched, haunted, and his eyes darted from side to side, but there was no one to be seen.

Frost was waiting at the door, watching him with curiosity in her eyes.

Erik stopped in front of the desk. It was a large desk, full of white paper and pens, but nothing had been written down on the paper. The paper was all blank, blank and bright white as if someone had just placed it on the table.

Erik's fingers hovered over the paper but he did not touch it. Better not to touch anything, at least not if it wasn't necessary.

Erik raised his gaze and let it wander over the windowsill and the glass. It was a sunny day outside but Erik could not see the outside; no trees, no grass, no blue sky, just bright golden sunlight.

The metal-bender tore his gaze away from the mesmerizing bright light and turned around. Too many bookshelves, where to begin? Erik was sure that he would find something usefull in those books, something that would tell them about Charles' feelings and his current state. There had to be a reason for all those books, and now that he thought about it; where to hide your memories and feelings better than in books? It seemed all like Charles, who loved books oh so much.

With long and steady steps he walked towards the next best bookshelf. Books in all different sizes and colors.

Erik randomly picked a red one with golden tendrils on its cover. The book was large but thin, almost like a children's book. There was no title. None of the books had a title.

Erik opened the book and he hadn't even read the first word as suddenly everything began to blur-

"Mother." I say. "Mother, you are going out?" Again? And what will father say? Won't he be sad?
No, father won't be sad. Father is too busy with is experiments. I think that's why mother is searching for distraction all the time.
I know she is about to visit one of her best friends. They are not really her best friends, no, they are all superficial and hypocritical, but mother likes to call them friends.
"Hush now, Francis, it is late and you have to go to bed." She doesn't even look at me; she is too busy with looking at her mirror image. She looks good in her blue dress and her white shoes.
I don't feel cold in my pajama. It's warm in the room, mostly because of the fire in the fireplace.
I stay calm and quiet, not leaving.
She doesn't look at me again.
She leaves the room while I am still standing at the side of the dressing table-

Erik blinked and shook his head; he was back in the room, had somehow managed to come back, and it was a relief. All the emotions...He had been Charles, he had seen his mother, had felt the sadness of being ignored...

Erik quickly closed the book and placed it back in the shelf. Wrong book. He was still a bit shaken as he walked to the next shelf. Maybe the next book would tell him more? At least he had been right with his theory, but he hadn't expected that it would be...this intense.

The next book he took was blue with silver ravens on its front. This book had more pages than the first one but it wasn't heavy. Erik took in a deep breath as he opened the book in the middle, prepared for the emotions, and began to read.

- that's why I stay perfectly calm. Raven looks up to me, her head tilted and her expression questioning. She does look sad, even if she barely knew my father.
I am not crying, I have cried enough for now. I don't want her to see me crying.
"We have to go back inside." Raven says, her voice soft and warm as if she doesn't want to hurt me with her words. Oh, dear Raven..."Mother said she wants to visit Kurt."
Oh, she always says mother to Sharon, and she always says brother to me. We are a family now. But, that's because I've made mother believe that Raven is my sister. She does think Raven is her child. I know that's not right, I shouldn't have done this because it's wrong, it's a lie, but I had to. Otherwise she would have never agreed to let Raven stay with us.
"I know." I answer, my voice steady and calm. My throat feels dry. "Let's go back than."
I don't want to visit Kurt and his rude son Cain, I've never liked them much. They often came to visit mother and father because Kurt is a co-worker of father's - was.
I still can't believe that father is gone. It feels so unreal and I think that's the reason why I can't-

Erik took a deep breath and closed the book. Wrong book again. A cold chill ran down his spine and he looked over his shoulder. The paper rustled in the wind. A window was open. Had it been open before?

There was a strong feeling of sadness inside him and he realized that it was not his own but Charles'. This whole book-reading-thing was dangerous, he realized, because the feelings, Charles' feelings, were getting stronger and stronger. He really hoped they wouldn't overwhelm him..

He swallowed hard. Why was his throat suddenly so dry?

"Be careful." Emma told him as he walked to the next shelf. "Don't read too many of those, you will lose yourself in them."

Oh really?, Erik thought bitterly as he took a purple book. "You really could have warned me..." He added as he eyed the cover of the book.

Emma snorted. "Why? I thought you would be clever enough. Reading memories is dangerous and never lets you unaffected."

I am not a telepath, how should I have known? Erik nearly replied but he stayed calm instead.

He opened the book and barely noticed that his hands were shaking as he was pulled into the memory.

He is watching me. I can feel his eyes on me but I don't turn around. I talk to Sean instead.
Sean isn't listening, he looks at his bowl of breakfast cereal and thinks about comics and his favourite TV show. Why do I even try to talk to him? I know it's pointless, utterly pointless, but I don't want to turn around to face Erik.
"Charles, I need to talk to you." Erik says, and I perfectly know what he wants to talk about. It's about the kiss, the stupid kiss, and I feel my guts clench in...fear?
I've been reckless, too much alcohol, probably. Deep inside I know that it wasn't the alcohol, I just try to find a reason for the kiss.
It would be a lie to say it was because of the alcohol.
But, maybe I have to lie, to save the friendship that Erik and I share?
Why am I afraid? I've never been afraid to show my emotions, never, but with Erik it's something else. I just don't want to lose what we have.
I don't want to lose him...
He could go, can go, where he wants whenever he wants, and I fear he might leave us ...Leave us because of a stupid kiss.
God, Xavier, you are such a stupid idiot!
He said he needs time to think, and after two days of ignoring me he finally talks to me again. I would love to take a look inside his mind but I don't dare.
He would notice.
He would be angry.
I don't want to screw up things, even if I probably already have. Why am I so insecure? It's not like me at all...
I turn around and a large smile is on my lips, even if I feel like turning around and hiding somewhere. Erik doesn't notice my nervousness. Maybe he does, but if he does he says nothing.

"Charles, I -

Erik closed the book and leaned back against the bookshelf. It became harder and harder to find a way out and back to himself. It was odd, to see himself while being inside Charles' 'body' , while being Charles. He still could recall his own emotions at this point but at the same time he felt what Charles had felt. It was...too much. Had Charles really been this afraid? Erik had known that Charles had been nervous, but..It seemed he had been really...desperate?
Erik hadn't known that his silence had bothered Charles this much. He had never asked. Yes, Erik had never asked. He had been so careless back then...
Poor Charles.

Emma chuckled but Erik ignored her. He was close now. One, two, three bookshelves, four, five, what about this one?

Erik stopped in front of another shelf, the very last one in the row, and took a greenish blue book. It was a small book and the cover was decorated with small red leaves. Erik asked himself if the book covers had any meaning, surely they had, but not to Erik.

The metal-bender opened the book and began to drown a blur of colors.

"Erik, please!" I nearly scream, not because I am angry but because I am annoyed. Annoyed because he is too wary. He is always too wary, my dear Erik. "Don't be ridiculous!"
Erik turns around, his face a perfectly calm mask as he walked up to me. I still sit in the armchair,so I have to look up to him. I always have to look up to him, it's nothing new to me.
He leans down, down until our noses touch."Ridiculous?" His eyes are cold but his voice is smooth. I don't know what he thinks or feels. I never know. "I am worried, Charles. "
We stare at each other, my heart is wildly pounding in my chest. I can feel his breath on my lips.
"You don't need to be worried, dear." I smile, trying to calm him, but Erik is too upset. "Really, Erik, I know what I do."
Erik laughes but it is a bitter laughter. "I don't think you do."
Silence, awkward silence.
I don't know how to reply. I don't want to hurt him with my words, but in return I also don't want to be hurt by his words. He furrows his brow, his face is stern.
"You're doing that face again."I mention with amusement in my voice. I say it to lighten the mood.
His eyebrows raise. "What?" I took him by surprise.
"Your face." I say again, gesturing at his face. "That look, it doesn't suit you. It makes you appear older than you are." It doesn't, I just can't stand it when he looks at me like this. It makes me feel uncomfortable.
Erik looks at me and his eyebrows raise higher. I can't help it, I have to laugh at this adorable face.
First I think he is angry, but then he starts to chuckle. It's a low and warm chuckle. I like it when he laughs, it's so much better than his grim face.
We end up kissing. I don't know why or how, but I honestly don't care.

His lips are soft against my own and I-

Erik pressed the heel of his hand against his eye. Hastily he closed the book and placed it back into the shelf. His whole body was trembling.

Emotions swirled inside him, love, desire, warmth...

He could recall the evening, ohh, of course he could. It was so weird to see it, to feel it, from Charles' perspective.

Somehow the whole thing began to feel wrong, wrong because he was searching through the deepest memories of Charles, something that was private. Feelings, memories, thoughts...Things that Charles maybe had never wanted him to see.

Erik felt miserable.

It was wrong.

He was doing something that he himself would never want anyone to do; searching through his mind.

Maybe he just imagined things but he was sure it had become colder in the room. The sunlight slowly disappeared behind rainy clouds, leaving the large room in dark shadows.

Was he betraying Charles' trust? But, he did this because he wanted to help Charles.

Charles...Did he need Erik's help? Did he even want it?

Erik took a shaky breath as he tried to calm his racing heart.

"Everything alright ?" Emma asked, sounding bored. Erik sent a hateful glance into her direction as he pushed himself away from the bookself. "Yeah."

Okay, alright, this was the last bookshelf in the row, so technically the last book should be Charles' latest memory.

Erik bend down as his eyes searched for the last book. It was a small, brown one. The cover was made of leather and without any ornamentation.

Erik steeled himself for the encounter of emotions as he carefully opened the book somewhere near the end and-

Nothing.

There was nothing. The pages were blank, not a single word written on them.

Erik blinked in surprise as he flipped through the pages.

Empty, empty, empty...

Erik furrowed his brow as he placed the book back. What about the second last book? Erik took it out of the shelf but it was exactly the same as the last book; just a brown leather cover with blank pages.

"And?" Erik nearly jumped as Emma's voice asked from behind him. "Nothing." He answered, his voice totally calm. Damn it, what now?

"Well, he's smart." Emma tapped her index-finger against her chin as her eyes wandered through the room. "Of course he wouldn't hide the memories in a book, that's too obvious."

Erik stared at her. "Sorry, but why didn't you say something? We lost TIME because of that!"

Emma shrugged, not really interestd in Erik's anger. "Well, it was fun to watch you. Anyway-" She added as Erik's hands twitched dangerously. "I didn't knew it. I wasn't sure, I just wondered."

Erik growled but made no attempt to strangle Emma. "So, what are we going to do now?" He asked instead, clearly having a problem with keeping his emotions in check. "It's not like we have all the time of the world to find what we are searching for."

Emma sighed heavily as she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "I know that." She answered. "I guess we just have to take a look around."

And so they began to search through the room while the light began to grow dimmer and dimmer. The shadows seemed to stretch and stretch, and Erik wasn't sure what that meant, but surely it wasn't something good, at least not for him and Emma.

Erik searched in the small nightstand, but nothing interesting was to be found there. Just a small marble and several loose photographs.

The photographes showed different people. Erik did recognize some of the people, for example he knew that one of them was Charles' father.

He, indeed, looked a lot like Charles. Just his eyes weren't as blue as Charles', and he was taller than Charles, but otherwise they looked a lot alike. Next to the man stood Charles mother, wearing a dress in dark green. Charles didn't look like her at all.

Charles himself was not to be seen on any of the photographs, and Erik assumed that this was a picture a moment that Charles' memory had saved as a photograph, something that was too precious to be simply written down in a book.

There was also a photo of Raven as a small child, laughing and holding a flower in her hand. She wasn't blue, no, she was the blonde girl that she had used to be. She had been blonde, Erik noticed, because Charles' mother had been blonde. It was to fool her, so it was easier for her mind to see Raven as her own daughter.

There were several other photos, also some of Erik himself. He was always smiling on them, random moments that Erik himself could barely remember.

But, those photos were useless, at least for for Erik, at least right at the moment, and that was why he put them back in the drawer.

There wasn't much left. The bookshelves were out of question and the tables were all blank.

Erik wondered if there was anything to be found at all; maybe this was the wrong room? Maybe there was another room and Emma had missed it? As if the room had heard his thoughts Erik suddenly saw the stone steps which were leading down to a heavy wooden door.

Erik turned around but Emma was no where to be seen. The metal-bender sighed, then he carefully walked down the steps.

He was sure he could hear voices again, muffled voices behind the door. He was curious and laid his ear against the door. Different voices, at least five or six different people, all male..

There was just one option;he had to open the door.

Those people...He was sure he would find what he was searching for if he opened this door. Carefully he laid his hand on the doorknob, trying to turn it, but the thing would refuse to move.

The voices behind the door got quieter.

Erik's hand slid over the locks, trying to open them with his powers, and to his surprise the locks clicked, but the door did not open.

It was odd, he couldn't even feel the metal but still he was able to open the door just by thinking of using his powers. He was nervous, more than nervous, and there was a heavy feeling inside his stomach, maybe a feeling which was supposed to warned him, but no, no, he did not listen to his inner voice which screamed at him not to open the bloody door, no, he opened the door, carefully and slowly.

Coldness grabbed him, washed through him and made him flinch. Darkness in front of his eyes, swirling darkness that reached for him, and the voices, he could hear them now.

"Not worth living..."

"You won't survive this night, mutie..."

"You shouldn't exist..."

Mumbling, hushed voices, whispering in the air, toneless and dull... But he could hear one voice above them all, one voice that he would never forget.

"I'll count till three." This voice once had said. Why was Shaw's voice inside Charles' head, behind a wooden door in a room full of darkness?

There were hands reaching for him, hands made of dark smoke which reached and reached and he could not move! He was frozen, shocked, his eyes wide as he stared into the darkness. He could see eyes, six pairs of them, all colorless and cold. Dead. Those were the eyes of dead people.

"Lehnsherr!" A flash of white rushed past him and closed the door with a loud bang. The coldness, the emptyness inside him, the fear, the despair, everything left as the door finally closed.

His heart hammered in his chest and he gasped for air. He hadn't noticed that he had been holding his breath. "What..." He gasped, his eyes still wide. "What was...that..." He managed to stutter. God, he was shaking like a leave in the wind. He felt sick. "I...Shaw, I could hear his voice and..." He trailed off, not able to speak any further because he was sure he would vomit.

Emma glared at him, her chest raising and falling as if she had been running. She probably had been running. "Idiot!" She snorted as he leaned back against the door. "You've thought it would leave him unaffected if he stays inside Shaw's mind while you're killing him?"

He just stared at her. "What?"

"YOU killed him, both of them!" Emma snapped. "He was linked with Shaw's mind, that's why a part of Shaw's mind is still living inside Charles while a part of Charles has died with Shaw. You are such an idiot Lehnsherr! You just opened the door where Charles hides them."

"Them?" Erik gasped, still too shocked to fully understand what was going on? A part of Shaw inside Charles' mind? "What do you mean 'them'?"

Emma shook her head, closing her eyes. "He has killed more than one person, Erik. "

Erik gulped. "What?" He asked, slowly, feeling as if he was in trance.

"I don't know who those men are, but I know that he has killed them with his powers. That's all I can tell you."

Erik leaned back against the wall of the stairs, shaking his head to clear his mind. Charles would never kill anyone, ever! Unless...Erik raised his head, ready to open his mouth as a voice behind him spoke.

"What are you doing here."

It wasn't a voice that Erik had heard before. It wasn't just one voice, more like several voices together, voices in different pitches, ages. Male voices. Voices that seemed to belong to the same person but somehow they didn't seem to fit together.

Erik swallowed, his eyes darting to Emma's face; Emma's eyes were wide, her mouth slightly open as she stared at the person behind Erik. Erik had never seen her like this. Emma never showed emotions. Never.

Slowly, very slowly, Erik turned around.

Then he froze.